. >> reporter: for his part, president obama released a statement saying michelle and i warmly remember our meeting with the holy father in 2009, and i appreciated our work together over the last four years. while can it's true we don't know who will be picked by the college of cardinals to replace him, we know the cardinal whirl will take part in the selection. it's not been announced yet when the college of cardinals will meet in rome, will? >> y in idea about a timeline. how many americans do we know will participate? american cardinals in this vote? >> it's a small number. there are 118 cardinals earn the world under the age of 80 who will be able to take part in this. there are 10 american cardinals and this question of a possibility of an american pope came up a lot today. experts we talked to said when you have a pope stepping down the first time in 600 years, it's impossible to rule anything out. but longtime vatican watchers tell us it's unlikely at best. >> and tom fitzgerald, thank you. >> of course, the big question is who will succeed pope benedict xvi? there are a long lis